Financial Analysis Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Analysis Report - Essay Example The auto industry is one of the largest and most profitable industries in the world. There are over one billion vehicles worldwide and in the United States there are approximately 240 million cars (Tencer, 2011). These vehicles often breakdown and require maintenance. Due to the massive amount of vehicles in the United States there is a huge demand for auto parts. One of the biggest players in the auto parts industry is AutoZone. AutoZone has been in business for over 30 years. The organization was founded in 1979. The company is committed to providing the best parts, prices and customer service in the automotive aftermarket industry (Autozoneinc, 2012). The company believes in the value of providing great service in order to increase its customer retention rate. Based on Pareto’s 80/20 rule firms obtain 80% of their business from 20% of their customers (Hafner, 2001). AutoZone is a publicly traded company sold in the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AZO. The stock as of August 3, 2012 was selling at a price of $360.33 (Yahoo). The firm began to sell its stocks in the open market in 1991. The market capitalization of the company is $13.71 billion. Market capitalization is calculated by dividing total stocks outstanding by market price. The company is a member of the Fortune 500. The fact that AutoZone is a publicly traded company gives this firm an advantage in this industry due to the fact that the company always has the option of releasing a secondary stock offering to raise capital. The auto parts industry is extremely fragmented with thousands of independent auto parts stores across the nation. AutoZone has grown a lot since its inception 33 years ago. The company today is the market leader in the auto parts industry in the United States of America. The corporate headquarters of AutoZone are located at 123 S. Front St. Memphis, TN 38103 (Ecorporateoffices, 2012). The auto parts chain

Diabetes and Obesity (Biology) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Diabetes and Obesity (Biology) - Assignment Example It occurs as a result of absolute insulin deficiency insulin, due to rampant destruction of cells producing insulin, the beta cells of pancreas. There is a strong genetic predisposition to this type of diabetes. On the other hand type-2 diabetes mainly occurs in late adulthood and the main predisposing factors are lifestyle factors and obesity. Lifestyle factors in this regard include sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eatimg habits like irregular meals, binge eating and fast foods. Even in this type of diabetes genetic factors play a role. The main cause for diabetes type-2 are a combination of decreased secretion of insulin from the beta cells and also increased resistance of the receptors of the insulin in the peripheral tissue (Votey, 2005), which means that whatever insulin is secreted is not effective. The most common form of diabetes is type-2 diabetes and it has significant relevance to obesity. Thus, diet and exercise play a major role in prevention and also treatment of the disease. In this article, the role of obesity in the development of diabetes will be discussed. The main defect in diabetes type-2 is the inability of the tissues to respond to insulin. There is also decreased production of insulin by pancreas. Both these amount to increased glucose levels in the blood, known as hyperglycemia. An important causative factor is obesity. This is more so when obesity is more around the waist, known as central obesity (Votey, 2005). Obesity leads to decreased resistance of tissues to insulin. The fatty acid and triglyceride levels are high and these further interfere with insulin signaling. Another important aspect in obesity which influences the development of diabetes is dysregulation of the secretion of adipokine which is a hormone that causes peripheral resistance to insulin and contributes to the development of diabetes. Thus, obesity has a major role to play in the development of the most common form of diabetes, type-2 diabetes. Figure.1: Causes o f diabetes type-2 (Source: www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk) Diabetes is a silent killer and can lead to both acute and chronic problems that are potentially fatal or debilitating. Acute problems include, unconsciousness and coma either due to high or low blood glucose levels, confusion, anxiety and tremors. Chronic problems include development of retinal problems, grouped under retinopathy, kidney problems, known as nephropathy and problems related to nerves, known as neuropathy. Other than these long term problems, diabetes also leads to cardiac problems (Votey, 2008). Infact, any organ in the body can be damaged by diabetes. That is why it is very important to prevent diabetes and also keep it in control when contracted by this disease. The main aim of treatment of the disease are prevention of complications (DOH, 2008). This can be done by receiving appropriate medical care a physician-coordinated team which includes physicians, nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, and mental health professionals with expertise and a special interest in diabetes. The most important aspect of prevention and also management of diabetes is lifestyle modification. This includes active physical life through exercise and physical activity, cutting down on excessive eating, following health eating habits like balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables and regular meals, cutting down on excessive alcohol indulgence and avoiding stress (DOH, 2008). Regular exercise is essential

To What Extent was Guatemalas Civil War Caused by US Policy

To What Extent was Guatemalas Civil War Caused by US Policy Spanning decades from the late 1950s to the 1990s, the Civil War in Guatemala represented one of the longest conflicts in Latin America. During this time; over tens of thousands of refugees fled the country; over a million were made homeless as over four hundred indigenous villages were destroyed; and ultimately over two hundred thousand people were killed or have disappeared.[1] The root of this conflict lay in the ridiculously imbalanced distribution of wealth that had existed within Guatemala for centuries. This misdistribution was born out the combination of a revolutionary international atmosphere, alongside years of economic hardship caused by the governing elites. To what extent each of these factors caused the Civil War will be assessed throughout this essay. Predeceasing the Civil War, the Elites possessed the vast majority of the land in Guatemala. As a result, they exercised a significant amount of power and control over the society. To further the abuses in wealth distrib ution, the U.S. owned substantial amounts of land in Guatemala, and viewed the country as pure potential profit[2]. What is so fascinating in my opinion; are the diverse opinions regarding the roots of the issues. Two major narratives emerged as a result from the conflict. The first master narrative tells the tale of the indigenous Mayan population being brutally oppressed over centuries by European and American powers. The continuums of colonial tradition lead to mass abuses of human rights which lead the oppressed population to look towards supporting insurgent groups. This narrative brings to light the voices of the people and state and can be viewed through the vast literature which creates its own Testimonio genre. The second and opposite narrative regards the more recent role that the United States has played in Guatemala. In particular, with regards to the involvement that the CIA had in supporting the Guatemalan government in order to eradicate the leftist forces within the country. Ultimately, the argument stands that the United States was a significant factor in causing the Guatemalan Civil war.   It stands as one of the reasons why Guatemala had such a poor economic infrastructure. Moreover, this infrastructure provided the dissent that led to the creation of insurgent groups which so threatened U.S. political ideology. This threat enabled the U.S. to intervene and turn a civil war into an international conflict. In the context of Latin America, the testimonio was a crucially important form of literature that represented the first master narrative mentioned.   John Beverley in the book The Real Thing: Testimonial Discourse and Latin America describes testimonio as: a noveltold in the first person by a narrative who is also a real protagonist or witness of the event he or she recounts[3]. Testimonios are accounts in which the author uses their experience as an agent of collective memory or identity. Through these first-hand accounts, readers can ascertain a certain truth derived from a situation of oppression that can challenge and even correct so called official history. Beatriz Manz is an example of a testimonio author. Alongside Manz, other famous works of Testimonio surrounding Guatemala exist; the most notable being Me llamo Rigoberta Menchà º y asà ­ me nacià ³ la conciencia. Menchà ºs story narrates the tortures faced by a poor Quichà © peasant family, who had to migrate every ye ar to large coffee plantations in order to survive. The story tells how her family were mistreated; she herself did not attend school, and her brothers died of malnutrition. The main argument Menchà º has is that the economic hardships within the country lead to her gross mistreatment. Following the accusation that her family was involved in the guerrilla movement, one of her brothers was arrested, tortured and killed in 1979; her father was killed by security forces and her mother died after being tortured and raped. Menchà º tells a heart wrenching story that brought the Guatemalan struggle to the forefront of international interests, however it is not without its flaws. One of the central issues with regards to testimonio is the authenticity and veracity of the voice. Sklodowska cautions it would be naive to assume a direct homology between text and history. The discourse of a witness cannot be a reflection of his or her experience, but rather a refraction determined by the vic issitudes of memory, intention, ideology.[4] This is something that American anthropologist David Stoll assesses in his book, Menchà º and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans. Stoll makes the bold statement that the events described in Menchà ºs testament are exaggerated in an effort to amass support for the guerrilla movement. Testimonios represent the fine balance between fiction and history; emotion and fact. In the eyes of Menchà º, the U.S. played a crucial role in promulgating the civil war. Stolls criticisms could be undermined by the fact that his stance is from a Western point of view, which disregards the nature in which history has been testimonial in Mayan culture for centuries .[5] In this sense, Menchà º wasnt attempting to tell a completely accurate story of her family, if not relay the struggles of her people. Her story has since contributed to the greater good by bringing to light the vast abuses of human rights that the Guatemalans faced for decades.[6] This economic hardship that Menchà º describes can be traced back centuries to initial American involvement. Chairman Henry Kissinger oversaw the creation of The Report of the Presidents National Bipartisan Commission on Central America in a hope to establish a consensus for Central American administration.   Described as well-informed laymen who took a six-month odyssey into the terra incognita[7] of Central America; the commission members intricately analyzed the political, economic and social problems of Guatemala. The conclusion was reached that inevitable U.S. intervention was favorable. However, like a Gordian knot, the report never successfully resolved the tension between U.S. security interests in the area and the admitted need for radical change in many Central American societies. I take issue with regards to the vernacular used throughout the report, as the U.S. seems to absolve itself of any responsibility for causing the very problems that the report encompasses, and implies it has moral responsibility to fix these issues. For instance, the report accounts the negative long-lasting Spanish colonial legacy in Central America, yet only briefly describes the significant influence of the United States in the centuries predeceasing the Guatemalan crisis. The semi-feudal system established by Spain over three centuries ago set a precedent for an inability of indigenous peoples to self-govern and integrate into the colonial political system. Whilst this is a valid point for assessing the development of the turmoil within Guatemala, the U.S certainly did not take as much of a back seat as the report would have us believe implementing a passive Good Neighbor Policy which sought to see all neighboring countries stable, orderly and prosperous[8].   Focusing on two instances in the early 20th Century; Colombia and Nicaragua for instance, it becomes evident that America did not take as passive an approach to Latin America as the report would have us believ e.   Active American involvement in Central America can span back to The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 in which America planned to protect Latin American states from European expansionism. Substantiated by the Roosevelt Corollary in 1904, the doctrine created a precedent for the justification of intervention on account of political ideology.[9] The commission report serves as an example of this policy being enacted as it claims that U.S. intervention during the early 20th Century was focused on promoting the stability and solvency of local governments so as to keep other nations out.[10] Intervention in Guatemala, for instance can be seen as pre-emptive interventionalism hoping to fix the wrongdoings in Latin America. In Roosevelts State of Union Address, the use of international police power was therefore excused as a justification for involvement in Latin America.[11] Moreover, Guatemala was of upmost economic importance to the U.S., which historically had wanted to create an economic hegemony in Latin America in order to diminish European Imperial expansion.[12]   This pseudo American Imperialism makes it evident that U.S. expansionism was deeply rooted in a sense of Manifest Destiny.   The Banana Wars that shaped U.S. Foreign Policy towards Latin America and American military involvement across the continent as a whole, stand as symbols of this economic relationship that the U.S hoped to establish. Joseph Freeman and Scott Nearing place American financial imperialism within a Marxist context. The Colombian uprisings against U.S. canal rights in the Panama Canal resulted in American military involvement[13]. This perfectly exemplifies the argument in which military force was used to broker economic expansion. The Panama Canal sets a sinister precedent which would then see future U.S. military involvement in Guatemala decades later. The report was written with a post-Vietnam/post Iraq cynicism, which could result in why rhetoric of a civilising mission was used to justify aggressive exploitative expansionism. The rebellions in Nicaragua stood as inspiration for Guatemalans during the 60s and 70s as they hoped they could utilize similar tactics in order to regain control of their country. Insurgent groups formed in Guatemala as a result, as described by Manz; The growth of social movements in Guatemala took place in the turbulent context of Central America in the late 1970s and early 1980sâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦ Social upheavals and indiscriminate repression both were escalating throughout the region.[14] These mounting social problems combined with shrinking political options proved to be a volatile combination that finally erupted into armed confrontation.[15] From the standpoint of the Guatemalans; the Sandinista guerilla movement had proven successful in the catalysis of the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979. Manz describes the revolutionary atmosphere that surrounded Guatemala, and notes that the Guatemalan insurgents and many supporters thought that if victory had already taken place in Nicaragua and seemed possible in El Salvador, why not in Guatemala?[16] As mentioned, the peak of the Guatemalan civil war occurred at a very similar time to the peak of the Cold War. This meant that the U.S. turned its focus on to its southern neighbors as they turned to communism. The consequences of this meant that ordinary local conflict would soon have an international audience as Guatemala would become another battle ground in the Cold War. Arguably motivated out of fear; the U.S. provided immense military and economic aid to Guatemala; much of the fighting took place at the height of the Cold War and the combatants were well aware of U.S. support for the Guatemalan military.[17] As stated by Kissinger, the U.S. was concerned of the intrusion into Central America by aggressive external powers[18]. The fear that Cuban or Soviet backing would support the insurgent groups, led to the U.S. providing tacit support to the Guatemalan Government. This U.S. support gave the Guatemalan government both a military and political upper hand, whilst intrinsically tying the corrupt ruling elite to external American influence. This cascade of events that followed U.S. intervention in to Guatemala placed the country firmly within a Cold War context; where ideology played a substantial role in rallying support by even the indigenous peoples; who believed they too, were fighting for justice. However, was this intervention completely necessary, and did it exacerbate and prolong the civil war? The report briefly touches on this notion, which a disagreement with regards to the conditionality of U.S. intervention. Should there be a link between U.S. support and improvements in Latin Americas execrable human rights record. Such a notion implies awareness for the deterioration of the human rights that America was c ausing, however, they feared a Marxist-Leninist victory in El Salvador, and therefore this notion was consequently ignored. The report believes that in order to fight an expanding army of communist guerrillas, U.S. must continue to provide support to the armed forces. A peace agreement is long overdue in Guatemala. Following almost three decades of armed conflict and brutal injustice; Guatemala is owed a transformed society with democratic leadership, increased rights for the abused Mayan people, end to the U.S. military backing, constitutional reform, and an improvement of the socio-economic and socio-political issues. Whilst in my opinion, the main forces behind the war in Guatemala were the economic oppression and daily violence which led to the creation of the insurgent groups that so threatened the American political status quo. The economic oppression was inflicted primarily by the governing elite, however, as a sole factor this could not have led to a war of such gross magnitude. America played a significant role. The years of colonial oppression implemented by America into their southern neighbours had an underrated lasting economic consequence. By default, the U.S. had a much larger responsibility in causing the Guatemalan Civil war than is initially apparent. Such destructive and protracted conflict could not have amassed had it not been for the influence of the international community. Guatemala today has still not recovered. The lives of millions have been shattered, and America should be owed a much larger blame than any other country. Bibliography Berryman, P. The Religious Roots of Rebellion, (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1984) Beverley, J., The Real Thing (Our Rigoberta), (Modern Language Quarterly 57:2:1986) CIA The World Factbook, 20 Nov. 2008, Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Dec. 2008 Grandin, G. The Last Colonial Massacre(The University of Chicago Press, 2004) Kissinger, H. The Report of the Presidents National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, (Macmillan, 1984) LeoGrande, W.M, Our own Backyard, The United State in Central America 1977-1992(The University of orth Carolina Press, 1998) Levenson-Estrada, D. Trade Unionists Against Terror (The University of North Carolina Press, 1994) Manz, B. and N. Aryeh, Paradise in Ashes A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror, and Hope, (New York: University of California P, 2004) McClintock, M. Roosevelt, T. Theodore Roosevelts Annual Address to Congress (December 6th 1904) accessed via http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=truedoc=56page=transcript Smith, R. The United States and the Latin American Sphere of Influence, (Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company, 1981) [1]CIA The World Factbook Guatemala, CIA The World Factbook, 20 Nov. 2008, Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Dec. 2008 [2] B. Manz; A. Neier, Paradise in Ashes A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror, and Hope, (New York: University of California P, 2004), 16-17. [3], G. M. Gugelberger, T he Real Thing: Testimonial Discourse and Latin America, (Duke University Press, 1996), p.34 [4], G. M. Gugelberger, T he Real Thing: Testimonial Discourse and Latin America, (Duke University Press, 1996), p.34 [5]J. Beverley, The Real Thing (Our Rigoberta), (Modern Language Quarterly 57:2:1986), p.129-235 [7] H. A. Kissinger, The Report of the Presidents National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, (Macmillan, 1984), p.1 [8] H. A Kissinger, The Report of the Presidents National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, (Macmillan, 1984), p.34 [9] J. Monroe, The Monroe Doctrine, December U.S. Department of State. Retrieved November 2, 2011. [10] H. A Kissinger, The Report of the Presidents National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, (Macmillan, 1984), p.34 [11] T. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelts Annual Address to Congress (December 6th 1904) accessed via http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=truedoc=56page=transcript [12] R. F. Smith,The United States and the Latin American Sphere of Influence, (Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company, 1981), p. 10 [13] R. F. Smith,The United States and the Latin American Sphere of Influence, (Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company, 1981), p. 10 [14]B. Manz; A. Neier, Paradise in Ashes A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror, and Hope, (New York: University of California P, 2004) p. 96 [15] B. Manz; A. Neier, Paradise in Ashes A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror, and Hope, (New York: University of California P, 2004) p. 46 [16] B. Manz,; A. Neier, , Paradise in Ashes A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror, and Hope, (New York: University of California P, 2004) p. 96 [17] B. Manz; A. Neier, , Paradise in Ashes A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror, and Hope, (New York: University of California P, 2004) p. 224 [18] H. A. Kissinger, The Report of the Presidents National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, (Macmillan, 1984), p.36

The Written Word Lives On :: essays research papers

The Written Word Lives On Wonderful things contribute to the life of my spirit everyday. With limitless pages bound by a common goal these books keep me ticking. At night while I shudder under my covers Ayne Rand and her John Gault have held me in a stupor for hours on end. Making the cold seem like a fantasy and Gault's hidden valley a physical reality. She has made me standing between my fantasies and I. From the first blessed page of the Cat In the Hat I knew I was finished. My nights of sleep seemed to have no chance. The twisting and turning of the tongue made a game my young mind enjoyed. Books, these windows to the other side, did not pass judgment and became my companions. I take a book with me when I travel so if I know no person at my destination I always have a friend with whom old times are shareable. Family without friends never provided me with enough company. Taking a walk with the dark elf Drizzt through the shadowed halls of his city Menzobaeren inspired confidence in me even in the solitude of a Hawaiian vacation. Calling reading just a hobby then does it injustice. Adventure fits it more appropriately. Books sweep me into the depths of imagination and let me share another persons dream while helping me see mine. Piers Anthony taking me through his spellbinding Juxtaposition opened my mind and revealed his dreams. I have held my grip on the exhilaration that brought me. I never feel as complete as when I visit another book. The ceaseless joy bonding my mind with another realm leads straight into addiction. Finishing a good story is akin withdrawal or the loss of a loved one. Someday a clinic may open in the name of helping readers come back without regret. The regret of the book ending unveils the truth in the saying "parting is such sweet sorrow." I harbor no doubt of the knowledge and abilities books shamelessly impart upon me. I wallow in it at every opportunity. Possessing an open mind navigates me out of the awkward situations in life. When I meet a new person it I feel no difficulty in sharing ideas and making compromise. Reading a variety of stories by a variety of authors contributed this. These authors take a masterpiece and thrown in some dastardly character that even a mother like. I compromise with the fiend for the sake of the whole book. I compromise with a vile teacher for the sake of my education. Sticking with experiences instead of

Rhitorical Appeals in Literature Essay

In â€Å"Superman and Me† by Sherman Alexie, the narrator’s claim is that if you do your best to obtain knowledge, even those considered to be low class can flourish and rise up in a world such as ours. In this specific case, the narrator turns his quest for knowledge into a fight to improve his life as well as the lives of his fellow Indian’s. He read whenever possible in hopes that he could escape the poverty of the reservation and make something of himself, unlike the other kids who purposely did bad in class and pretended to be stupid. Sherman Alexie uses the rhetorical appeal of Pathos, or emotion, as well as Ethos, to get his point across. He writes about how when he was a kid, no one was there to help them in school and teach them how to write properly, and how as an adult he Is continuously fighting to help kid’s in the same situation he was once in so that they do not have to go through what he did to succeed and become successful in life. There is no better interpretation of what Alexie is trying to prevent or solve as he himself was in the same situation that he is fighting to end to this day. He says â€Å"I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives† (Alexie Phar. 8). Throughout his essay, he shows how using his knowledge, arrogance, and luck he manages to â€Å"break out† of the Indian reservation to become a successful writer in an attempt at saving â€Å"our† lives: Not just his life, but the lives of all Indians, both current and future. In the poem â€Å"Crazy Courage† by Alma Luz Villanueva, the author talks about a man named Michael that she met in her fiction class, who, as she later finds out, is a cross dresser. Using the rhetorical appeal Pathos, the author  truly proves her point- that other people’s opinions do not matter so long as you are courageous and confident about yourself. In the poem, Michael seems so courageous, even though he is dressed in woman’s clothes and in front of an entire class, that it â€Å"shocked / the young, seen-it-all MTV crowd / into silence†(Villanueva 20-23). The class was so shocked at the confidence of the person in front of them considering his situation that they couldn’t even speak. In fact, even â€Å"those who would kill him† were impressed at the level of courage he must have had, and the fact that he seemed even happier in the seemingly odd clothes and outfit he was wearing (Villanueva 27). Last but not least is the poem â€Å"Theme for English B† by Langston Hughes. The author Langston Hughes seems to use more of a Logical appeal. While it doesn’t seem to be the most organized Poem, there is without a doubt some sort of claim. While it isn’t necessarily the best example of a claim that relates to knowledge and individual power, it seemed like an interesting poem to write about. In my opinion, the author is trying to show that even though he is of a different race than his white teacher, and even though he is from Harlem, he is just like everyone else. He likes â€Å"to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. / [He] like[s] to work, read, learn, and understand life†(Hughes 21-22). On the other hand, I feel like this poem has a hidden message, which is that obtaining knowledge is important for him to eventually become as â€Å"free† as his older, white teacher. That is why, in my opinion, he mentions where he went to school and the fact that he is in college to learn, in hopes of getting somewhere in the long run. That is also why, in my opinion, he points out that he is the only colored student in his class. Not necessarily to point out his color or race, but to show that he is one of the few in his race that finds knowledge to be an important thing. Overall, I feel like all of these claims are somewhat valid. The claims in â€Å"Crazy Courage† and â€Å"Superman and Me† are without a doubt true in my opinion, however the claim in â€Å"Theme for English B† seems a bit weak. I’m not quite sure when the third poem was written, however nowadays I feel like the level of colored people obtaining an education is relatively fair. Racism is for the most part nonexistent in at least the northern half of the United States, so that is no longer a problem in our  society here. I feel like if the poem was written recently it would not have been as successful as it was, and you wouldn’t be finding it in text books. Perhaps the poem was written a long time ago so the authors points were valid, however nowadays plenty of colored people are receiving proper educations and going to college.

Mia philippines Essay

The Philippines was first put on the map by Portuguese adventurer Magellan working for the Spanish throne on March 16, 1521. The Philippines had become a Spanish colony and was the first country to be named after a sovereign, Phillip II of Spain.1 Spanish rule had continued until 1898 when the Philippines had become an American colony following the Spanish-American War for the stately sum of $20 million. In 1942 during WWII, the Philippines had fallen under Japanese occupation and was liberated by American and Filipino forces under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur in a fiercely contested battle that raged on between 1944 and 1945. The Philippines had attained its independence on July 4, 1946, and had a functioning democratic system. 2 The Philippines Archipelago consisted of 7,100 islands, covering an area of 299,735 square kilometers and was slightly larger than Arizona. The capital city of Manila was situated on the largest Philippine island of Luzon (see Exhibit 1). The Philippines had a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of $3,400.3 The percentage of the population of the Philippines living below US$2 a day was 45.2 per cent in 2006.4 PHILIPPINE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Research conducted in 2009 showed that the Philippines was ranked 140th for ease of doing business and 155th for starting a business, out of a total of 178 countries. It took on average 15 procedures and a total of 52 days to complete business startup procedures in the Philippines compared to six procedures and 44.2 days and 5.8 procedures and 13.4 days for the same process in Asia and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, respectively.5 The Philippines had the second lowest savings and investment as share of GDP ratio in Asia6 (see Exhibit 2). PHILIPPINE FISHING INDUSTRY The Philippines has total territorial waters of 2.2 million square kilometers, of which coastal waters comprise 266,000 square kilometers and coastal reef area (10 to 20 fathoms deep, where reef fishing takes place) comprise 27,000 square kilometers.7 In 2003, the Philippines ranked eighth among the top fish-producing countries in the world with its total production of 3.62 million metric tons of fish, crustaceans, mollusks and aquatic plants (including seaweed). The production constituted 2.5 per cent of the total world production of 146.27 million metric tons.8 The fishing industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP was 2.3 per cent and 4.2 per cent, at current and constant prices, respectively. The industry employed a total of 1,614,368 fishing operators nationwide,9 of which the artisanal fisheries sector accounted for 1,371,676.10 Artisanal fishing operations were typically family-based and used smaller craft. There were a total of 469,807 fishing boats in the Philippines, of which 292,180 were non-motorized and 177,627 were motorized.11 Fish was not only an important source of nutrition, but as fishing did not require landownership or special permits it was an employment of last resort for people who had no other means of subsistence. MIA, DENMARK MIA was established in Denmark in 1975 by wealthy businessman Hagen Nordstrom, who dedicated the NGO to his wife Mia and made fighting poverty his life’s work. (MIA stood for â€Å"beloved† in Danish.) MIA had initially focused solely on poverty-alleviating projects in Africa and had expanded its operations to Latin America and the Caribbean only in the early 1990s. The grandson of Nordstrom, Gillis Nordstrom, had taken over as MIA chairman in 2004 on the eve of the Bander Aceh Tsunami of December 26, 2004, which devastated Southeast Asia and killed as many as 130,000 people.12 Nordstrom had taken initiative and redirected MIA to focus on disaster recovery and poverty alleviation projects in Southeast Asia. MIA had established an office in Manila in January 2006, and the young Danish development economist Borje Petersen was hired to manage the MIA Philippines office. Petersen was paid a starting salary of $75,000 a year plus housing, slightly below average for a comparable development economist position. Petersen knew that MIA’s attention was focused on Indonesia and Malaysia, which had been the hardest hit by the tsunami, and was anxious to carve out a position for MIA Philippines by designing an exceptional project. As the expansion into Asia was the pet project of MIA’s chairman, Petersen felt assured that funding would be easily appropriated and even expedited. Petersen knew that the average overseas posting for a development economist for MIA was two years and had quickly established contact with local and international stakeholders and set up numerous meetings with large development project counterparts such as the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the German development aid organization GFZ to get an expedited understanding of the Philippines and its unique needs. Based on the initial research, Petersen had decided that, whereas an agricultural project would be feasible, it would take a long time to realize and the outcome could be complicated given the Philippines’ proneness to be hit by typhoons. Petersen’s research had revealed that small-scale aquaculture projects had been successfully implemented in the Philippines in the past. However, there were hardly any projects to speak of directed at artisanal fishing and picking up on the vested opportunity and his desire to deliver fast results and prove himself worthy of the task that MIA and its chairman demanded, he had chosen to design a project helping artisanal fishermen. Petersen had researched the possibility of helping a fishing village close to Manila and the search for the ideal village had come to a successful ending when MIA’s driver, Vicente Tubo, had mentioned how some of his distant cousins fished for a living in a fishing village seven to nine hours by car from Manila. A factfinding mission to the village Barangay San Hagon was undertaken and the village was thus chosen as the beneficiary of MIA’s pilot project in the Philippines. BARANGAY SAN HAGON Barangay San Hagon boasted 125 households and had a resident population of 625. San Hagon lay on the south coast of Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines. The Barangay was the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and stemmed from the Spanish â€Å"Barrio.†13 Barangay San Hagon was administered by a local government unit (LGU) and consisted of seven Barangay council members and a chairman. The chairman of Barangay San Hagon was Rafael Buenaventura, age 59, who had held office for more than a decade. Fishing villages in the Philippines were very vulnerable to external risk, especially natural calamities such as typhoons, flooding and fish kills, which severely affected their financial situation.